Gerber GDC Tech Skin Review

The Good

Weight

Size

Rubber / Poly exterior

The Bad

Covering the lock mechanism in loose rubber

Lack of a pocket clip

THE VERDICT

The Gerber GDC Tech Skin really is a knife for the iPhone generation. It is a great pocketknife for the person going into the office who just likes to have a nominal blade on hand. It can also go pretty undetected due to its size.

FULL REVIEW

The Gerber GDC Tech Skin Pocket Knife is a knife for the modern professional who occasionally escapes the office to get out into the woods. Wrapped in rubber and downsized to focus just on those daily tasks around the home or office that can come up from time to time, this knife makes a great sidekick on a big, backwoods adventure.

Construction & MaterialsA rubberized layer wraps the GDC Tech Skin making the knife very grippy while ensuring the knife doesn’t damage any touch screens on phones or music players that might share a pocket with the knife. There is a metal frame underneath it all, but it’s designed for light duty at best.

The lockback blade locking system securely prevents the blade from folding in during use. However, in keep with the goal of having the knife be non-damaging to touch-screen devices, Gerber decided to cover the lock’s release in rubber, which makes the operation of the lock a little difficult.

Ease of UseWithout a pocket clip, the GDC must live in your pocket and possibly get lost in the wonders within. Because of itssize and thickness, it’s actually easier to open the GDX with two hands instead of one

Steel Quality & Edge RetentionGerber uses 7Cr17, a Chinese stainless steel with a hardness around 55-57. That makes it a decent choice for this daily-carry blade. The blade’s titanium nitride coating helped it retain the overall “stainlessness” of the blade though I found the steel could be chipped.

DurabilityEven though there is a steel frame acting as the foundation for this knife, it is slight and still allows the knife to flex a little bit. That flex and the GDC’s small size makes this knife suitable only for light duty task. I worry that the rubber covering the lock button will eventually wear, crack and tear–but at this point; it has not.

ValueThe Gerber GDC Tech Skin affordably targets the knife-carrying needs during daily office-based life. In the past this would have been considered a Gentleman’s knife but today it is very appropriate for anyone at any time. I found it nearly unnoticeable in my pocket.